When you begin building your website (or embark on redesigning it), there are a few things you want to keep in mind. Websites are meant to do a lot of the legwork for us when potential clients are looking to hire, however so often I see websites that aren’t built to sell. Your website needs to be more than just pretty. It needs to speak directly to your audience and make them feel like you are speaking right to them while guiding them to the pages you want them to see. Here are 3 tips on how to build your website to sell.
1) Know your audience
The one most important thing you must remember when building your website is this — remember who you’re selling to. Your site has to be geared towards them and what makes them buy. It must be deliberate, which always starts with messaging and positioning.
You want to address the specific issues that they have and how you’re the solution to that issue. As they navigate your site, you want them to resonate with each page, so talk more about them than yourself, even on the “about” page. Rather than a long, boring bio, your about page should immediately tell people in a concise way what you can do for them. You can take bits of your bio, sprinkled with testimonials and calls to action to really show them how they are at the center of everything you do. Your about page is the biggest missed opportunity for forming a connection and relationship with potential clients. It’s usually one of the most visited pages on your website, so make it count.
Everything on your website starts with knowing your message and building from there. Your website should show them why you’re the perfect choice for them and why you’re worth every penny with a combination of your message, voice and visuals. They should quickly see what you are best at, and who you best serve. Nobody serves everybody. If you go into creating your website trying to cover all the bases and appeal to anyone that might click, you won’t draw in anyone.
Be specific about who you are speaking to. This will attract a small group and repel a small group. I know repelling anyone feels scary, but in the end it means you make more meaningful connections with the people who are already prepped to buy. Plus you’ll still pull in some general stragglers that relate to what you’re saying. However, the ones in that smallest niche are going to think you are speaking directly to them.
Once you figure out who that smallest, most ideal group is, think through what their barriers are to buying — what do they need to hear to push them to make a decision? What are their fears and anxieties? What helps you build trust with them? What do they think they need from you, and what do you actually provide? Sometimes what people need isn’t the same as what they think they need. If they consistently come to you looking for a smaller piece of the bigger puzzle, then you should tweak your messaging to focus on that smaller piece to draw them. Then you can show them how the big picture is what they really need.
2) Create a strong brand before building your website
Messaging and visual cohesion is the basis of a strong brand. Visuals and a voice can’t be created just for your website. The strong brand should be created first and then implemented everywhere that your brand lives. This includes your website, social media feeds, podcast topics, print materials or advertising, even often-overlooked things like your sales experience and how you onboard new clients or package your products.
It’s ok to start building your brand with the colors of your wardrobe, fonts you are drawn to and words that just feel good to you. Where most people get in trouble is that they stop there. This leaves no room for building your customer into your brand. This makes it all about you, which isn’t going to sell. Unless you are your audience, this rarely works.
The hardest but most rewarding part of the branding process is finding the overlap of what you want to communicate and what your audience truly needs to hear.
Once you hone in on what your brand needs to say, you need to be sure that your words and graphics say the same thing. Visuals communicate just as much as your copy, and you owe it to yourself and your business to know what they are saying. If they’re speaking different languages, you leave people, at best, confused, and at worst, suspicious of who you really are.
3) Be intentional with the layout and functionality of your website
Curate the digital journey for your customers
You want to build your website to sell, which means you need to intentionally lead customers through a sales process that makes sense. Use navigation, calls to action, emphasis, buttons, and white space to guide their eye exactly where you want them to go. The last thing you want to do is leave it to chance for them to find what you want them to.
Don’t just plop your navigation across the top and let them decide when to go where. Well-placed calls to action will lead visitors where you want them to go.
Always make it easy for your reader to get back to the home page and navigate your site. You want your buttons to be as user-friendly as possible so that your audience gets the most out of the time they spend on your site. Don’t overwhelm visitors with too many options of where to go and every conceivable drop-down option under your main navigation. Too many options can be confusing, so keep it simple, and make it clear.
Get rid of the clutter on your homepage (and better yet, your whole website). The less distractions there are, the more your potential client will be able to connect with your messaging and visuals and will follow your lead of what pages to visit when.
Design for devices and SEO
Consider how your site displays on multiple devices and browser sizes. The majority of visitors come from mobile devices these days, so if you are only viewing from a desktop, you are missing part of the picture. Make sure that a horizontal layout and vertical layout both communicate the same overall impression on the first click and that the most valuable content is viewable on the main screen.
Creative businesses love to have beautiful home pages that are void of copy. While pictures do speak louder than words, Google doesn’t always agree. Keyword-friendly copy on your homepage is essential for a high ranking in Google. Write with SEO keywords in mind but don’t go overboard and cram them in everywhere or you’ll just sound like a robot. All of your copy, but especially your home page copy should be clear and concise. If you must choose, clarity always wins over cleverness.
Be Unique
There is a reason WordPress and Squarespace templates are so popular. They are easy to set up, and the designs are tested to be effective. It’s a win-win, except in the uniqueness department. Effective layouts are great, but when everyone’s look the same, you lose a lot of the power straight out of the box.
Find ways to stand out. Incorporate unique pieces of your brand and think of creative ways your audience likes to interact. Check out this Color filter for Blakely Interior Design. The Blakely brand is all about designing homes full of vibrant color, so why not allow their visitors to view projects by their favorite color. This little nod to what their audience loves about them is a great example of how to keep visitors engaged through interaction specific to your site and brand.
Testimonials are an easy way to show what’s really unique about your brand experience, and it’s extra effective since it’s not coming from your mouth. Instead of cramming them on an overwhelming testimonials page, pepper them throughout your whole site. This allows visitors to see them as they move throughout the website, rather than relying on them to visit a specific page. And it is a constant little nudging reminder of how awesome you are with each click.
Overall, the biggest lesson is just to be intentional with your website design and copy. Think from the perspective of your potential buyers and customize everything you can so that they feel like you are catering right to them. If you follow these tips, your website will become your most valuable salesperson.
